Google Search Autocomplete Saves 200 Years Of Typing Per Day

The Autocomplete feature of Google Search saves some 200 years of typing per day, Google said Friday, citing its internal research and estimates. Likewise, the functionality reduces the amount of typing one has to do to perform an online search by approximately 25-percent, the company claims. The Mountain View, California-based Internet giant is quick to point out that Autocomplete-generated results are meant to be referred as "predictions" instead of suggestions given how they were designed to guess one's query and not make any kind of content recommendations that would by definition have a bias. The system still isn't perfect and can occasionally lead to what Google deems are inappropriate predictions, with the firm encouraging users to report any such results if they're certain they shouldn't be shown, even though the existence of a prediction or lack thereof doesn't affect one's ability to search for anything.

What constitutes an inappropriate prediction is also a gray area and one that Google is reluctant to talk about, with the firm now only asking users to review the Search results of what they suspect may be such an unbecoming guess because the actual content returned in response to those queries may provide some much-needed context regarding why some prediction has been served. In practice, if the system makes a guess that could be considered inappropriate, it likely only did so because a large number of users previously searched for it.

Search remains Google's flagship product that kickstarted the firm and is at the center of the advertising-based business model that turned it into the technology juggernaut it currently is, with the firm now being one of the world's most valuable companies across all industries. That state of affairs is likely to remain unchanged going forward, with Google being expected to continue committing vast resources to supporting and improving Search.

Dominik started at AndroidHeadlines in 2016 and is the Head Editor of the site today. He’s approaching his first full decade in the media industry, with his background being primarily in technology, gaming, and entertainment. These days, his focus is more on the political side of the tech game, as well as data privacy issues, with him looking at both of those through the prism of Android. Contact him at [email protected]